The Problem of Pain - Materialistic, Abrahamic and Dharmic explanations (video)
A Talk at ISKCON, Adelaide, Australia...

The crying monkey.
Sacinandana Swami: Bhakti takes two forms in this world. On the one hand the form of activities you perform with body, voice and mind, and on the other hand the form of feelings. These devotional feelings are the inclination to serve Krishna in a favorable way, in other words giving pleasure to Him. The feelings of bhakti-bhava also include eagerness, gratitude and being moved by genuine love.

Importance of Pure food (Prasadam) by H.G. Gauranga Prabhu (4 min video)
What happened in a Hare Krishna Govinda’s Restaurant?

FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE by practicing SOULFULNESS!! (2 min video)
Srila Prabhupada: “If one only chants, with some slight faith, the holy names of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda, then very quickly he is cleansed of all offenses. Thus as soon as he chants the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, he feels the ecstasy of love for God.” (Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 8.31)

How does Bhagavad-gita help?
An old Farmer lived on a farm in the mountains with his young grandson. Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bhagavad-gita. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in every way that he could.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa! I try to read the Bhagavad-gita just like you but I don’t understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bhagavad-gita do?”
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A lecture about Gita Jayanti by HH Niranjana Swami in Iskcon Chicago

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Daily Readings of Srila Prabhupada’s Books by HH Keshava Bharati Dasa Goswami.
Canto 12: “The Age of Deterioration” Chapter 2: “The Symptoms of Kali-yuga”

“See Devotees as Saints” by HG Mahatma Prabhu (4 min video)
Krishna says see my devotee as saintly because he never gives up bhakti. Krishna is saying if a devotee is determined, no matter how fallen he may be, he’ll never give up his Krishna consciousness, he’ll always try, he’ll always get back on his feet, it is my instruction to you to see and treat them as sadhus and such devotees are praiseworthy and it’s my command that you praise them and honor them.

Bhagavad Gita And Impact on Western Mind
No work of spiritual literature has ever been revered as much as the sacred Bhagavad Gita; which not only continues to inspire Indians even today, but also remains admirable even to this day in the western countries.
Mr. Terence, a guest who read the Bhagavad Gita at a motel in CA commented “ I got my first Gita in a hotel room and ever since I read the first verse my life has been ever increasing in Krsna Consciousness. Life is a journey back to Krsna. Peace… Thank You!”

Give me Hope!
Today he sits on the sidewalk, in minus degree temperatures, holding a ragged sign which reads “give me hope.” It’s a familiar sight that I’ve become somewhat desensitized to; I don’t think I can truly understand his situation. Seeing him sleeping rough, a few people throw in some coins, someone else gifts him a Costa coffee, while an occasional passer-by stops to offer a few comforting words. All nice gestures. But, my heart says, what he really needs is hope. In that ...

Two Foundations of a Guru-Disciple Relationship.
There are two elements that have to come together for a healthy and responsible relationship between guru and disciple. The first element is that the disciple needs to be free of the motive to improve him- or herself materially by this relationship. The second element is spiritual good fortune.

George Harrison Changed My Life. “Well my time in Berlin was just starting, I hadn’t made many friends yet, so I was all by myself. All that I had to my name in possessions was a stereo and my Beatles records. So I played them nonstop. I started to get into the lyrics and not just the beat. I started wondering what was the meaning to the songs that George was singing, because they were much more than just songs. For instance when he sings, "My Sweet Lord,” he mentions Hare Krishna and Rama, I wanted ...

The Accepted Member of the Family.
A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In… my young mind, he had a special niche.

Giving Thanks to Whom?
Mahesvara Das: At the end of this month the people of America celebrate the event called “Thanksgiving”. As the title implies, the whole purpose of this event is to stop and become consciously grateful for the things we have each been given. Traditionally people take this time to give thanks to God for the gifts of the bountiful harvest and the blessings of family, friends, and good health etc.
Of course, the holiday assumes an acceptance that there is a God to gi...

Materialism reduces human life to an inhuman race from nowhere to nowhere (Based on Gita 16.09)
Chaitanya Charan Das: Many people adopt a materialistic lifestyle without thinking about its implications. A materialistic worldview implies that we have come from nowhere because we didn’t exist before birth; we will go nowhere because we won’t exist after death; and while we live, we are successful if we get more things than others. And even if we do succeed, still, life ultimately ends in failure because we lose everything at death.

Our Seven Mothers.
“Our own biological mother; a guru or wife of our guru; a queen or head of state; brahminis, or wives of our teachers; the cow; one’s nurse, and finally, Mother Earth. Manu Smriti says,“The gods dwell where women are honored and respected”.Perhaps that’s why there are so many problems in the world today. So, first of all, our own mother, our first guru, the one who gave us birth. Srila Prabhupada writes in his commentary to Srimad Bhagavatam that, “only fool...

Do Vaisnavas drink Tulasi Tea?. In 1975 Srila Prabhupada visited Govinda’s restaurant in Honolulu, Hawaii. I think it was the first Govinda’s in Iskcon, although at it’s second location in the University area.

“Everything for Krishna …”
In Calcutta, 1971, the temple was in quite a bad state because the temple president had become preoccupied in an incense business he had started to raise funds. In the course of his absorption in the business, the devotees in the temple were being neglected. He hardly spent any time with them, and they really had no one to look after them. They were barely surviving. A strong-bodied devotee named Sudama Vipra, who had belonged to the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang, was so famished that he would take t...

Srimad Bhagavatam Class 11.22.45 by HH Niranjana Swami at ISKCON Chowpatty.

Srila Prabhupada: Simply Love Krishna!
Krsna is full with six kinds of opulences. So this is the opulence of Krsna’s beauty. Krsna wants everyone…we are offering obeisances to Krsna with awe and veneration. But nobody comes here to Krsna with a rope: “Krsna, You are an offender. I shall bind You.” Nobody comes.

Life Beyond Cultural Shame.
A Second Gen’s Perspective on Never Have I Ever.
By Gopika-kanta (Gopika Sharma)
I remember leading the Bhakti Club at Rutgers University. The Western students loved the kirtan and embraced our genuine attempts to explain the practice of mantra meditation in an impactful way. The Indian kids? Their feelings of judgment made my insides shrivel. I hated feeling looked at by my own people as if I was less because I finally was doing the hard work of figuring out the value ...

Looking for the Bliss by Mangalananda prabhu (4 min video)
We were kids back then
Just looking for the bliss
A ragtag band of transcendentalists
It was Vishnu Johnny
And the white-trash yogi

Making a truce with the body and the mind (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam Class by H.H.Sachinandana Swami at ISKCON Vrindavan

Dear Bhagavatam!
When there is no other glimmer of light
And the clouds of illusion cover my power of sight
Your every word illuminates my path from within
And You give me the faith to let my journey begin
When the unceasing rain of this world starts
It drips through the holes in the ceiling of our hearts